


being selfish.

by AnxiousCupcake



Series: half-baked unrelated plot kitties [10]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Complicated Tingz, Dancing, Happy Ending, Jealous Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Mild Angst, Or not, Soft Feels, aged up i guess, i am awful at titles 'being selfish' wtf is that smh, idk - Freeform, the other option was 'complicated' so um i guess its an upgrade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:08:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28431429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnxiousCupcake/pseuds/AnxiousCupcake
Summary: He had said his feelings for her were complicated. They didn’t seem so “complicated” now as he watched her dance with someone that was not him. His arm wrapped around her waist, her laugh genuine and a tint of pink to her cheeks as her eyes sparkled. All he wanted to do was cut in, and ask for a dance but he knew that wouldn’t bode well; especially not with the way Alya was looking at him almost challengingly.“Can I be horribly selfish for a moment?” he asked, hand tightening around her waist.Her face flushed, and he knew she noticed. Her voice was steady though. “Of course. We’re friends.”He suppressed the urge to wince. “I… Wish you would find happiness with me.”Her gaze sharpened. “Yes, that is, in fact, selfish.”
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: half-baked unrelated plot kitties [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980556
Comments: 10
Kudos: 173





	being selfish.

**Author's Note:**

> where are they? idk. why are they dancing? idk. what kind of an event is this? idk. who is that guy marinette's dancing with? idk. hence, this is part of the half-baked plot kitties. this is so half-ly baked that it's not even a half-baked item. and now, i have lost all sense of coherency, have fun :D
> 
> this is another thing i didn't think through and just put on here because i felt like it. although it was originally supposed to be part of this fic - [it was only a kiss.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28402311) \- but it got out of control and didn't feel like it fit there anymore.

He had said his feelings for her were complicated. They didn’t seem so “complicated” now as he watched her dance with someone that was _not_ him. His arm wrapped around her waist, her laugh genuine and a tint of pink to her cheeks as her eyes sparkled. All he wanted to do was cut in, and ask for a dance but he knew that wouldn’t bode well; especially not with the way Alya was looking at him almost challengingly. 

Sighing internally, he deflated in the chair with a pout, arms crossed as he tried to look away. This was his own doing, he supposed, but it was also the right thing to do, because as complicated as he’d said his feelings were, _he_ knew that the truth was that he was in love with two women and that wasn’t fair to either of them. He doubted Ladybug would care who he was in love with though, he thought bitterly. 

His eyes flickered over to where she was dancing with him, and he wondered if she noticed that his hand inched just a little higher on her waist. He felt his hand tighten where it rested on the table and he tried not to glare. 

“You trying to reduce the man to ashes or something?” 

Startled, he turned to see that Nino had settled in the chair next to him. Adrien continued to grouse. 

“She looks happy.”

“She does.”

“She said she was in love with me.” His tone was almost petulant.

“Yeah, and _you_ said that your feelings were, and I quote, complicated at best,” reminded Nino, his tone a tad sharper than normal.

“Doesn’t mean that the feelings aren’t _there_.” Adrien muttered.

“Mec,” sighed Nino. “It’s not her fault.”

“I know it isn’t, Nino. I’m not blaming her for _me_ being an idiot. _I_ said no.”

“Are you regretting it?”

“Maybe? Okay, _yes_ I am.”

“Look, I don’t know what noble thing you think you’re doing, but you’re _both_ hurting and all you have to do is own up to your feelings and _tell_ her!"

“She deserves better than someone who isn’t _solely_ hers."

“Maybe that’s upto _her_ to decide,” said Nino. “And possibly soon. She’s loved you for too long."

“What’s _that_ supposed to mean?” asked Adrien indignantly. “It’s not _my_ fault that I didn’t know."

Nino agreed. “No, it just means that she’s loved you for so long because she was hopeful. We’re almost done with school, and you said no.” He poked at Adrien’s cheek to force his face towards the dance floor. “So now she’s going to give it her all to move on. And I have a feeling you don’t want to be here to witness that.”

As Adrien watched, the guy had taken her hand in his. She looked a little scared, a little hesitant, but there was a shy smile on her face anyway. A gentle tug, and the guy was leading her away and she followed. 

No, no he didn’t want to be here to witness that. 

When they came back in his line of sight, Adrien felt his heart sink at the stain of pink lipstick on the corner of the guy’s lips. But… At least it wasn’t on the lips. Bracing himself, he found his way onto the dance floor where they had resumed dancing.

“Mind if I cut in?”

He was pleased to see the look of indignation on the guy’s face being replaced by that of recognition. So when Marinette nodded at him, eyeing Adrien with confusion, he (clearly reluctantly) released her and stepped aside gracefully. 

Adrien nodded at the guy and, clearing his throat, turned to Marinette. She looked rightfully wary as he took her hand in his and put it on his shoulder as he wound his own around her waist. He could tell she was putting an effort in not saying anything. She really was too good for him.

“Seems like a nice guy.” He observed as they swayed to the music. Slow dance music, he observed. He probably had Nino to thank for that. 

Apparently Marinette knew it too because she was glaring at someone over his shoulder. "He is.”

“Glad to see you’re taking my advice.”

Marinette shrugged, eyes flickering back to Adrien’s, gaze steady, unblinking. “You were right. I’ve waited long enough.”

“And you deserve happiness,” he said, repeating his words from earlier, the same bitter feeling in his chest as when he had first said it. 

“I do.”

He twirled her, quiet for a moment before pulling her back to him. 

“Can I be horribly selfish for a moment?” he asked, hand tightening around her waist. 

Her face flushed, and he knew she noticed. Her voice was steady though. “Of course. We’re friends.” 

He suppressed the urge to wince. “I… Wish you would find happiness with me.”

Her gaze sharpened. “Yes, that is, in fact, selfish.”

Adrien shrugged, looking away in embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” she said. “It’s not on you that you don’t return my feelings.”

Adrien swallowed thickly. “It’s not that I don’t-”

“It’s complicated, so you said,” she said, cutting him off. “You told me to try and move on.”

“I did,” he conceded. “I wish I hadn’t. And I wish you wouldn’t.”  
  
“Selfish,” she stated, with a nod. 

Adrien loosened his grip on her fingers only to wind his other hand around her waist as well. Both her hands automatically found a way around his neck. 

“I want to be selfish,” he admitted. 

She smiled sadly at him. “I only have so much to give, Ade.”

“I don’t want to ask for more than you can give either,” he said softly, before dropping his head to her shoulder. “I miss you.”

“Adrien,” she whispered. “This isn’t fair.”

It wasn’t. Adrien knew that, especially not in-lieu of what he’d told her. But he missed her smile, the warmth of her presence, the smile he hadn’t even realised had been meant just for him ( she hadn’t smiled at him like that since _then_ ), her comforting touch - without even having to tell her - everytime he had a bad day, and how she just knew. He missed how he made her blush, the shy way she’d sometimes look at him from under her lashes, the comfort of her arm linked with his at boring events his father _made_ him go to. 

He just missed _her._

It had been barely two weeks since then, and he already felt like a dying man in a desert without her presence. It had been easy to forget that when he had had to reject her and ask her to move on, he had done it so she didn’t have to deal with a man whose heart wasn’t wholly hers. It was what she deserved. The world, and his whole heart. 

“I want to be selfish,” he repeated, and when he felt her start to draw back, he tightened his grip on her. He lifted his head up to look into her eyes. “I want to be selfish, and be _with you_.”

Her eyes widened, and the blush on her cheeks was back. “Wh-What? I- I don’t- Y-You-”

She was stunned, and he took the opportunity to guide her away from the dance floor and to a dimly lit hallway. 

“Marinette, please,” he pleaded as they came to stop under a softly flickering sconce. “I’m sorry. I was an idiot. I’m sorry, but I just want to be selfish and want you to myself. I thought I’d hurt you, but I know this is hurting you worse, and it’s hurting _me_ worse, and it makes me wonder if this is worth it. I _want_ to be happy. And it’ll be with _you_. I love you.”

He could tell she had stopped breathing. “You said it was complicated.”

“I’ll do everything I can to _un_ complicate it,” he promised.

“Adrien, I don’t know if that’s how it works,” she whispered, as he took both her hands in his, watching him with trepidation.

“I saw you with him, and I couldn’t-”

She cut him with an annoyed furrow of her brows. “Okay, if this just about you being possessive over a casual date I-”

“ _No!_ No, not all,” he denied vehemently, before conceding. “I’m not going to lie and say that I wasn’t jealous. But the truth is that it hurt a lot more than I thought it would. Suddenly, it didn’t seem so complicated anymore. It made me realize that I would do anything to _make_ it work. For you, and for me.”

She kept looking at him unsurely. 

“ _Please_ , Mari. Give me a chance. I can’t bear the thought of letting you slip through my fingers. I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”

She worried her lower lip, searching his face for something he prayed she would find. His heart beat out of his chest when she removed one hand from his grip to gently caress his cheekbone as she gulped. Her eyes still held some amount of caution and insecurity, fear of taking a leap of faith, but a trickle of hope had also bled in.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” He grinned.

She nodded. “Okay.”

“Will you go out on a date with me this weekend? To _Semilla_?”

Her lips twitched. “I see you already spoke to Alya about this.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said with a smirk as he leaned closer.

She put a finger to his lips, gently pushing him away despite his petulant pouting. “We’re taking this slow. So you can uncomplicate things."

“You… You don’t mind?” he asked nervously. 

“No,” she shook her head. “We both deserve a fair chance, be on the same page, so one of us doesn’t leave the other high and dry.”

“You mean just _me_?” he asked wryly.

She looked at him unsurely before smiling wistfully. “Believe it or not, there’s something I need to uncomplicate too.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

She didn’t elaborate. Though he was curious, he decided that that conversation was for another time. 

“I love you,” he said instead.

“I love you, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> send asks or questions about this fic, or anything mlb and i'll be happy to discuss! :D - [activechataclysme.](https://activechataclysme.tumblr.com/)


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